Dodgers Found to Be Negligent in Beating of Giants Fan Bryan Stow

After jurors deliberated for nine days, the Los Angeles Dodgers were found negligent in a 2011 Opening Day beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow.

Jonathan Lloyd of NBCBayArea.com reported news of the jurors' decision on Wednesday, noting that the jury was deadlocked as recently as last week before reaching a consensus.

The Los Angeles Times' John Adams provided further information regarding the specifics of how Stow will be compensated:

Stow, a 45-year-old father of two and former paramedic from Santa Cruz, was severely injured in that 2011 physical confrontation, an incident which has left him brain damaged. Stow's attorneys say he will need constant medical assistance the rest of his life. His lawsuit argued that the Dodgers didn't staff the ballpark with ample security the night he was harmed. To be clear, former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was not found to be the negligent party, per KTTV-Fox 11's Araksya Karapetyan:

Nick Ut/Associated Press

It was the Los Angeles organization as a whole that was deemed responsible. The violent attack occurred in a parking lot outside Dodger Stadium, and the two attackers, Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood, are serving prison sentences as the perpetrators. Sanchez, 31, pleaded guilty to a felony count of mayhem and received an eight-year prison sentence. Norwood, 32, pleaded guilty to assault by means likely to produce great bodily harm and received a four-year prison sentence.

Although this portion of the court proceedings was years in the making, NBC4 legal analyst Royal Oakes was impressed with how expedient the jury was.

"It's an amazing turnaround," said Oakes, per Lloyd's report. "There are dozens of questions they had to answer when it comes to damages, and that's probably why it took so long to do this. Of course, pain and suffering is so vague—two-to-three times the medicals is the rule of thumb, but who knows."

The defense for McCourt and the Dodgers argued that because Stow's blood-alcohol content was .18, he helped instigate the events that led to the attack. It was also offered that the Dodgers had an unprecedented amount of security at that 2011 Opening Day than any prior.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to prevent the atrocities through which Stow had to suffer, but the final verdict resulted in the attackers having to pay Stow restitution for the damage they caused.